Jay Z describes his bizarre strategy for beating stage fright

"I am so nervous right now
... I'm going to act so tough that I'm going to hide
it."Stephen
Lovekin/Getty

Many, if not most, professionals suffer from a fear of public
speaking, often resorting to deep breathing, picturing the
audience in their underwear, or even
prescription drugs.

Performer Jay Z has his own creative strategy for dealing with
stage fright.

The
New Yorker recently cited a 2010 NPR
interviewin which Jay Z tells host
Terry Gross that when he's scared on stage he tries to act
tough... by grabbing his crotch.

This defense may have grown out of his initial inexperience
on stage. Most hip-hop artists, Jay Z says,
start out with a hit record and little to no experience
performing live.

"And then you throw this
person on stage who has never been on stage before, you know,
because the music leads. So they don't have any experience on how
to perform in front of people, hold the mic, you know, all these
different things that you need to know as a performer.

"So when you get up there, you feel naked,
right? So when you feel naked, what's the first thing you do? You
cover yourself.

"So that bravado is an act of, 'I am so nervous
right now, and I'm scared to death. I'm going to act so tough
that I'm going to hide it. And I have to grab, you know, my
crotch.' That's just what happens."

It's hard to imagine using the same technique
while leading a Powerpoint presentation for your coworkers. (It's
even harder to imagine it working.)

Yet Jay Z's admission reminds us that even the most successful
people suffer from performance anxiety. They've had to come up
with creative ways of not only managing that terror, but making
it look like they're pumped to be up there.

Fortunately, there are mellower ways to
mask your nervousness — like speaking slowly and
maintaining eye contact. And of course, if you're lacking
confidence, there's no harm in
faking it.